EDIT: Clearly, I read my own script wrong. For non-alcoholic, you boil at 100°C/212°F. Sorry for trying to get you to boil something at a temperature which you'll never reach.
Indeed! This is wonderful! I always felt like butter didn't have enough alcohol in it and beer didn't have enough fat and calories! Ah, the wonders of human invention!
@@wrongturnVfor most modern recipes are pretty different. They start with about a novels worth of tangentially related, barely relevant life story of the writer's grandmother's dog, alongside a mountain of banner ads.
With "nog" being an old Anglo-Saxon word for ale, I would venture to guess that this recipe possibly formed the basis for what was later to become eggnog, switching ale for rum.
I remember reading somewhere that eggnog originated in England. They didn’t use eggs but exactly what Max says - beer and milk - and it was called something else (can’t remember now). It wasn’t until the deserters remained in the US and the United States became a thing that eggnog first appeared. I remember reading the brits didn’t have a lot of eggs to spare at the time so they used [edit] ale, not milk 🤦🏻♂️ - milk was a very important part 😂. Apparently Americans *did* have a plethora of eggs and subbed one for the other. Whilst writing, this whole thing doesn’t make a lot of sense but that’s not important. What’s important is I love eggnog and I’ll be trying buttered beer just as soon as we get our first snow.
@@AnthonyLeighDunstan Genuine question: would you happen to remember the source for that? Because I'd like to check it out, as I have difficulty subscribing to the idea that the English didn't have a lot of eggs. Given how much of our cuisine requires eggs, it's not likely that we were running a shortage at that point. It's only really after WWII, when a lot of our trade was reduced and our infrastructure was damaged, that we experienced shortages in essentials like that, and had to carry on rationing until 1954. But back in the Tudor period, given the relative populations, and also given that this was most likely a drink that would've been available to richer people who had access to almost everything society had to offer, I doubt that eggs would not have been available to make this recipe.
I would advise going for a beer with low hop content, the Tudors didn't use hops in brewing, hops were starting to be used in mainland Europe as a preservative in beer but the English resisted this as they hated the bitter flavour the hops imparted to the beer preferring spices. Go with a Mild or Stout if you can get it as they tend to have a low hop contents and avoid lager and IPA which have high hop contents.
Killians irish red or other malt beer....i make small beer with it using aguave sugar syrup and spices. works cold, steeped in the fridge for a couple of days to allow the spices to bloom, so no need to heat (though you will need to strain out the spice sediment).
This sounds good but I’ve always disliked beer; all the ones I’ve tried have the same aftertaste. Do you think it’s the hops flavor that I don’t like? Are there any beers that don’t include hops? What makes beer, “beer”? I appreciate anyone’s thoughts. I was thinking this would be worth getting a pint to try making; cutting the other ingredients into thirds.
@@IMJwhoRU there's a huge variety of aftertastes amongst beers. if it's a bitter taste you don't like, more often than not it's a beer with a lot of hops, such as an IPA (India Pale Ale). if you're drinking Bud/Coors/Miller and it's the metallic taste you don't like, that's just because it's kinda crap beer. highly recommend you try a hefeweizen, they have low to no hops, fairly sweet, none of that metallic flavor. everyone I know that tries them likes them.
@@renaissanceredneck73 Just for decoration I hope, because pewter contains lead and will get transferred into the food, i.e. poisoning you. I think Max learned about that at some point and was sad about it, but glad that the comment section warned him or something like that if I remember correctly.
One of my favorite parts of beer in English history is how it was instrumental to the first formal epidemiological investigation - the Soho water pump incident. There was a well in Broad Street that was contaminated with cholera (and kept getting people sick, as they did not realise water could be getting them sick, germ theory was not yet a thing. There were two water filtering servicing the area, one of which was more expensive (and had lower rates of infection), and one of which was cheaper and less effectively filtered, which was responsible for most of the infections. This less expensive water service owned the broad street pump. There was one significant anomaly-none of the workers in the nearby Broad Street brewery contracted cholera. As they were given a daily allowance of beer, they did not consume water from the nearby well. This is part of what got John Snow thinking that the water might be the issue. He solved the epidemic pretty simply: he removed the handle from the pump of the broad street water pump. People stopped getting infected, germ theory was validated, and the field of epidemiology was created.
IPostSwords how did the dude from Game of Thrones get to Britain? Better yet did he bring Ghost with him? Was this after he was made King In The North as he was scouring the countryside looking for people to join his Army?
It wasn't quite as simple as that. In fact, the council reinstated the pump only a couple of weeks later because the authorities didn't want to buy into the idea that illness could be transmitted this way as it was seen as 'unpalatable.' The cholera contamination in the water supply had died off by then though and so the outbreak didn’t resurface, but this actually had the effect of further convincing authorities that Snow’s theory had been wrong, impeding legislative and medical practice reform for months. History once again showing how politicians always love to fuck everything up for everyone else.
I truste ye are ableth to swyme well or elst thee coulde not have youtubed thine results of the most perilous ale-makinge--or perhapse thyne is a wytch and can summon demons and or spirits to saveth thee from thine watery peril!
I tired it with a pint of Fullers London Pride. It’s not terrible, but I could see why it didn’t catch on. There’s some weird orangey curdling going on on the top. It’s quite sweet, and is slightly custardy . Probably good enough if your were living in the 16th century when there isn’t much choice. I wouldn’t recommend it. Just have the ale out of the bottle, waste of a good pint.
I live with my best friend, and I've been raising my little sister a few years now. They both go absolutely APESHiT for every piece of food you and Townsend have inspired me to cook! I went from a mediocre-average level cook, to decently proficient with all the practice too! THANK YOU MAX!!!
Welcome to The Club of Extremely Proficient Cooks! Its so exciting to hear when someone starts to see food more than merely an enjoyable necessity. The excitement of knowing you control the flavors and consistencies. When the food you create, illicits oohs and aahs from those tasting it. You begin to understand the Art and the Science of cooking. You find that you pass along your emotions of love. caring, etc. in your meals, and those who partake not only find the taste amazing, but experience a feeling of warmth, the afterglow of the meal is different..more intense. Drugged even. My dear, continue to unravel the mysteries of the hearth. Epicureal Blessings to all!
as someone raised by his sister, the effort is what matters. when she gets old enough to understand, there will be no way to adequately express the depth of gratitude and respect. I'm not a religious person but screw it, I'll throw in a prayer for you two.
@Devilik yup, and cooking stuff like this got me way more into cooking in general! My sibling has since moved out, but now I'm cooking for all my homies pretty much all the time, both modern and "ancient" recipes. It was a nice trip down memory lane remembering this old ass post and seeing how far I've come was a trip. Thanks for reviving this post, Its the only notification I got for it, too.
Mine went quite well for the first batch. I really have nothing to say about this one, the tudors really knew their cooking and you've done quite well with this one.
if you go to any supermarket that carries "Sugar in the Raw" brand, that is Demerara sugar also: don't cook in a pewter pot, since it melts over a stove
I made this a few years ago, and would describe the taste as a Tudor pumpkin spice latte plus hint of beer. I can see why they liked it, definitely a comfort drink.
Oh that actually sounds inviting. I tried one starbucks latte tea once, and I after a couple of skeptical swigs I'd finally isolated the taste: like somebody had made a tea from licorice candy. So I hope to make it to my grave without ever finding out what a starbucks /whateverAddedTaste/ latte tastes like. A 400 year old beer recipe on the other hand? Hit me.
the fun thing about this is, like he says, it's quite a variable recipe, simply for improving decent, but not great, ale. add less egg, less butter, a quarter of the sugar, even, and add more cloves and spices, if you want. find what *you* enjoy, whether you want it cold or hot, etc.
I have never before seen a comment section with as much etiquette as this, everyone is so knowledgeable on beers and eager to recommend and supply observations and opinions. Congratulations everybody reading this on your exceptional use of the internet!
If you were a dirt poor englishman plying your trade in town all day you didnt get much time to eat well. Those drinks must have felt so fucking filling and refreshing. Stuff like that you take for granted in the present day
@@Freakyjohnsson1 oh so when a peasant eats 5000 cals a day they're considered "starved" but when i do it im considered "fat" and im told that im "banned from shake shack" smh, double standards
At first I was like "why hellloooooo" then he made an Australian comment and I just laughed so I tried to actually pay attention and I really enjoyed the video 😂
Just a note (and someone else might’ve already mentioned this): Pewter contains the chemical element Lead (Pb) so it should never be used for cooking. You can find Lead-free Pewter, but it’s not necessarily historically accurate. In this case being historically accurate would result in Lead poisoning. Love the channel, please keep making videos!
.... After pouring his ail (sic!) over him and preferably with the tomatoes still in the can. And leave his sorry carcass in the stock until either all the local rats/gulls/crows have finished feasting him or the patrons of nearby hostelries complain that the smell is taking the year of their beer!
There is a way to lessen the chances that the egg will cook while the butter beer heats. When it is time to add the egg mixture to the heated beer, take a little of the hot beer and add it gradually to the egg mixture. Then add this mixture to the hot beer gradually. By doing this, you temper the egg mixture by slowly bringing it closer in temperature to the hot beer. ~ Anastacia in Cleveland
I added rum, milk and cynnamon to the recipe and topped it with whipped cream. It's crazy how filling and tasty this drink is, it's wonderful, warming and creamy and it's perfect for autumn and winter time
Now I understand something I heard as a small child many many years ago. When someone was getting a bit too demanding or was seen as trying to live beyond their "station in life" they were asked "What do you want, egg in your beer?"
When he mentioned about being dunked into the river. The inability to swim wasnt the main reason actually. The average clothes back in that day were made of wool mostly, wool absorbs twice as much moisture and water, making their clothes extra heavy, and also the temperature of that water... yeah it would literally take the breath out of you lol easily inducing a panic state, easily leading to drowning, making drowning one of the leading causes of death back then... thank you for coming to my ted talk lmao
Your content is good enough that I see a Food Network show in your future. Better than the stuff I see on TV, reminiscent of Alton Brown’s level of knowledge and wit. Really good.
@@joergmaass www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8513727/Actors-writers-producers-warn-reverse-racism-film-industry.html "A revolution is under way. White actors are being fired. Edicts from studio bosses make it clear that only minorities - racial and sexual - can be given jobs."
The ale taster was also looking for watered down beer. Thomas Cromwell’s innkeeper father was frequently fined for watering down the beer in his tavern.
tescoid depended on the source of water really. If a village was near a very clean river/stream, or had a very fresh, clean well, they would drink water. if there were no easy to access sources of clean, fresh water, then you might see more minimally alcoholic drinks. people were well aware of what alcohol did to you back then, contrary to some perceptions of the era.
Beer at that time was very different from beer today. Brewing was one of the safest ways to deal with water, plus beers/ales had other nutritional benefits to them and were higher in calories which was important as most people at this point were doing hard manual jobs. Most beer consumed during the day at that time only had around 1% alcohol in it, hence why it was possible to drink it all day and give it to children.
Also at the time of the Tudors, hopped beer was still relatively new in widespread use. Often their beer wasn’t filtered and might have been made with additional herbs. So it was different from what we drink now.
There weren't alcohol consumption laws ANYWAY, likely because children were basically regarded as small adults. But regardless of the amount of alcohol, kids certainly and frequently drank beer and wine. (Even into the 19th and early 20th centuries, this was a thing; kids lying passed out in the streets was one of the most potent justifications for prohibition in the US.)
I just made this! It's a really interesting taste, I can totally see why they would binge drink this. It makes sense, you want to gussy up the bitter flavor of beer, put some spices and stuff in it. Very creamy but the warmth is a bit off putting, maybe I should try again during the winter.
@@TastingHistory I was thinking the same thing. I am saving this so that I can try it at Christmas. I'm so glad I discovered your videos. Love them. Maybe I should binge drink butterbeer while I binge watch your videos. Hmmm....
A lot of the beer they would have drunk in the middle ages would have been small beers, which had a very low alcohol content. It was especially favored for drinking with meals, for children, and for servants (since it'd quench their thirst without getting them too drunk to perform their tasks). Great video! I'll have to try this recipe next time I have a Harry Potter marathon. :)
Do you know the approximate alcohol content of a small beer versus a double double or a big/large beer? (LOL don’t know what the opposite of ‘small’ would be in this case.)
I think it was around 1.5-3%, but I'm not too sure. The channel Townsends has a great video on small beers and how to make your own, if you want to learn more about it.
@@appa609 Not the correct impression. In general, there are two types of beer fermentation. Ale, which is top fermenting yeast. Then there's lager, which is bottom fermenting yeast. Lagers tend to do well in colder temperatures, while ales ferment better at room temperature or just below. Within those two yeasts are all of the colorful styles of ale and lager: porters, Belgian Abbey, IPA, Flemish Reds, Dunkels, etc. In general, Lagers are better known for being lighter, lower alcohol beers such as Budweiser, Coors, etc. But there are exceptions to that, especially in Germany. They have some very strong, dark style Dunkel lagers which can reach 9-10% ABV. As for the "small beers" aka "table beers": They were very important during the middle ages because there weren't a lot of ways to purify water back then. The brewing process allowed for the purification and storage of the local water sources in the form of very low alcohol content lagers that essentially hydrated them. Yes, they could have just boiled the water without the whole brewing process... but you know. Middle Ages. Science wasn't much of age at that time.
Ive just made this and i gotta say i love it. It was a bit too sweet with half a lb of demerara sugar but i figure to tweak it a bit next time. I ised newcastle brown ale and it does the trick. I will try other british beers next time. Thanks for the awesome recipe!
"it's like a creamy beer... with spices... but really really good" hmmmmmmm for some reason I believe you... totally not because that's literally what it is
As a culinary student, I must say I need this in my life and career. The history of almost every food and how they were made from the ancient days. New subscriber here!
Made it. Delicious. Reminiscent of a thinner-bodied, foamy-topped, ale-flavored eggnog. Definitely recommend cutting sugar in half or quarter unless you have the sweet tooth of a 10 year old. Thanks Max!
Awww ❤ Baby Max ❤ I'm so happy I can watch every episode on the play all list! Sending love and blessings as well as gratitude for all you do. I recommend your show to everyone!
Finished High School 4 years ago and History was my favourite subject. Ancient and Modern, I was sucked in. I've lost that passion over these years a bit but finding this channel is rekindling it. Love your work!
Every year on Martlemass (aka St. Martin’s day), I make a meal based on medieval recipes, and this drink is perfect! Can’t wait to try it out! Subscribed.
AAAAAaaaahhhh come on! Seriously? There was a profession in the middle ages that consisted of going from tavern to tavern to taste the quality of ale?!?!?! That's becoming a NPC on my D&D games right now! 😜
Fresh water was rare back in those days. Nothing harmful can live in beer. It was a way to make water safe, hence why so many British beers are low in alcohol. Safe enough to drink daily but not be hammered.
A lot of foods were unpredictable in regard to safety in days prior to refrigeration and pasteurization. Also, creating a fermented beverage of some kind was a way of preserving grain. Ale, beer, whisky, it all works.
@@akademikz23 Most likely from something served with it or contaminated drinkware. The whole process of making beer kills off pathogens and the alcohol makes it an inhospitable environment for germs.
FYI, ethanol boils off / rapid-evaporates at a lower temp than water. So if you're at a simmering temp, you are indeed boiling out the ethanol. It doesn't take long to boil it out so I reccomend throwing in some rum at the very end of cooking it..... I must make this now. 😆
"Maybe a little bit, cause it is England". As an Englishman I tip my hat hahahaha! I love your videos, I make my own beer and wine and have taken inspiration from your videos to create many fine drinks! Keep doing what you're doing, I'm sure many people do, but I as one love everything you do! I love how you integrate the History with everything that you show, it really is exhilarating.
As your local Harry Potter fan I can confirm that the butter Beer of the books indeed has some alcohol content, not enough for a 13 year old to get drunk on but a house elf will get drunk on it, as seen in the forth book. That being said, I really want to make this and have a Harry Potter marathon or something.
Yeah, I’ve never thought that they way say, universal studios, interpreted butterbeer to taste was quite right. Based on the description in the books, I always pictured something more like this - a warm drink with actual butter and actual beer in it.
I made this with Hard Cider instead of ale, and added a stick of cinnamon when I put in the rest of the spices. It was pretty good, tasted like a baked apple, but it was rather sweet. I forgot that cider is sweeter than ale haha. I'll have to use less brown sugar next time I make it with cider.
This video was such a good find. My granddaughters love Harry Potter. Making Butter Beer looks like a great rainy day activity. I think they'll love it.
This is the first Tasting History dish I decided to try myself! It's sooo good!!! Rich and decadent like I never imagined a drink could be. After watching the video, I realized I had every ingredient needed but the ale so I went to the convenience mart down the street and picked up a 6 pack of Revolver Blood and Honey. I made my own variations to the recipe; I added cinnamon and vanilla extract and I also cooked off the alcohol for the kid-friendly version he talked about so I could have a more authentic Harry Potter experience =D
I just tried it with an oatmeal porter because I could not find Newcastle. Definitely need to find Newcastle tomorrow. It's OK, but it has a lingering bitterness at the end due to the porter.
@@SobrietyandSolace True, and more so very much believed to cure them, at the time, or at least *_really_* help with the symptoms. See "body humours" and "four elements" - spices were considered hot food items, and their heat would thereby cut against the cold that made you sick. Remove the cold, cure the sickness. (Which is why doctors actually advised against eating various fruit, as their freshness and moisture content was deemed to be indicative of being cold food items. Fun fact: water, in the elemental theory of the time, was not most characterized as being wet, ironically, but cold. As in, every element had two characteristics, one of them being primary; and because of the arrangement of the elements in opposition, since fire was *_clearly_* more hot than dry, that could only mean that water would have to be more cold than wet... Stupid as that sounds.)
Funny fact I never read that butterbeer was sweet when I was younger so when the recipe came out for the movie I was bummed. I recently doing some research for old drinks and I stumbled onto this recipe on an old history website and I feel in love with it! It's actually pretty good. No one can convince me this wasn't what she was writing about in her book.
Nicholas Flamel was an actual alchemist who worked on the philosophers stone too. Every account of butterbeer in the books matches this recipe far more than that sickly sweet shit they sell at the amusement park. Isn't it even described as being served warm in PoA?
Well one thing for certain, given the Hogward's regard for student safety, serving this to eleven year old's would be the least of their transgressions.
@@prototypep4 What they sell in the park is basically this but with cream soda instead of beer, and no eggs or spices. So basically this, but without most of the ingredients that make this recipe what it is.
@@Julia-lk8jn I mean, characters do get drunk off of butterbeer in the books. The way they portray it makes it sound like it’s a half alcohol beer or something, since it’s apparently what house elf and lightweight alcoholics drink, but larger adults rarely seem to get intoxicated off of it.
I tried this with some dry mead (I don't like beer so I don't keep any in the house), it came out really well. Definitely an extra amount of calories, but not bad for an occasional treat
I've conducted some experimentation in my many makings (and drinkings) of tudor era buttered beer. While there's a local microbrewery that makes a fantastic nut brown, the best two widely available beers to use are Fat Tire Amber Ale, and Newcastle Brown Ale. Hops weren't really used in brewing back then, only as a preservative- modern IPAs come from just how much hops had to be put in ales to get them to survive the sea voyage from England to India, hence India Pale Ale. Brown ales, and amber ales work fantastically. Bitter ales have an interesting result, but I find make a wonderful buttered beer. Anything hoppy should be avoided, and light beers such as pilsners don't quite have enough body to them for a good buttered beer.
Made this fantastically delicious version of "buttered beere" this evening!! The chill was in the air on one of our first autumn nights!! This recipe hit the spot!! We absolutely loved it!! Definitely a winner, Max!! Thank you for posting it and thank you for your wonderful Channel!!
@@chameleonedm their salted butter wouldn't be anything much like the salted butter we know today, though. In the quantities necessary to preserve the butter, salted butter would have 2-5x the amount of butter we put in salted butter today.
For future reference, I recall seeing recently (no, I can't remember where) that the penny was also traditionally used as a measure of weight as well as currency. So, one penny's worth of cloves beaten (ground) would be the weight of a penny (whatever THAT was back then). Further research just now (thanks to the interwebs) reveals that a pennyweight is equal to about 1.5 grams. I'll probably try this recipe using that as my measure and see how it works out. So far, that stuff you've showcased that I've tried has been pretty good so I've got a good idea that this will be a winner, too. For those curious as to where I found my information, here is the link: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennyweight
I didn't follow the link yet, but my guess would be that the "penny" was a weight before it was a currency. It explains "half-pennies" , and it fits with the logic that currencies started out as precious metals, so something is worth a pound of silver, or (anachronistically) a gram of silver or penny of silver. And then the logical next step is to cut silver into exactly these amounts, and put a stamp on them to keep anybody with criminal energy from creating thinner or smaller "pennies". (well, or at least to make it a bit harder)
@@Julia-lk8jn You might be right, but that was long before the middle ages; "penny" entered the English lexicon via old english/germanic "penning", which has meant "coin" as far back as linguists can trace. But before that, there's debate about its origins, including an ancestral cognate with Latin "pondus" for measurement of weight.
I would take it only that the ON/OE melded seamlessly with the Norman influence in the medieval period. As far as money itself, shillings (and the word) themselves have existed since the beginning of recorded OE settlements.
I made a butter beer a few years ago with a different recipe. It was very delicious and extremely filling. Definitely a Christmas or Winter festival drink.
My fellows and I set upon the quest this night, and we were victorious! The flavour was rich, smooth and buttery! Any chance you’d be publishing your collection of these updated recipes someday?
The idea behind buttered beer is similar to chardewardon, in that it is a medium filled with sugar, egg yolk and spices. Both are flavourful. I wonder if adding yolk was an affordable way for people of the age to improve the nutritional benefit of what they were eating -- perhaps to "add heartiness," or such. The smallfolk would not have had easy access to meats as in the modern era, but surely eggs were more easily included in a peasant's diet. Hmmm...
It's a good thought. Chickens are extremely easy to keep in almost any climate (they are even popular in Alaska) so long as you have ready access to grain to supplement any lack in their natural foraging capabilities. Just a handful of chickens will produce quite a lot of eggs every day, giving a reliable addition to the family diet.
It's a common misconception that meat wasn't common among the peasants. I'd wager that the peasants ate a lot of meat, mostly pork, and fish in their daily diets. Pigs are incredibly easy to raise and feed so it makes sense that a family would keep a few every year.
I thought I'd throw in a Euro reference in on the alcohol thing... I was stationed in Germany in the early 1980's, and there was a kids drink that we all loved in the summertime... It was called a "Radler" Which was a lot like an Arnold Palmer, but instead of Tea, it was half Beer, and half Lemonade. Now since the German Pilsners were on average around 10 or 12% alcohol, that would put these half liter mugs at being 5 to 6% alcohol by volume... as a kids drink.
Duncan Mac Raven I mean maybe the times have changed, but I wouldn't call it a kids drink. You can drink it at the age of 16 (that's what the law says), but it is still an alcoholic beverage.
back in the day you drank wine as a staple drink. Kids and adults. On the other hand they did have a bunch of social taboos about getting blistering drunk during the day, so they often watered their wine. It extended the wine supply AND made you able to drink more, then again water is a good taste enhancer in drinks from whiskeys wines beers, so it wasn't too much of a problem.
"Radler" is called shandy in the UK, and is very popular - beer, usually lager, mixed with either lemonade or ginger beer. I dislike it, but many people love it. But it is not a children's drink, unless made with non-alcoholic beer.
In Schwabia (Stuttgart region), there are Cola Weizens which are made with the local Hefeweizen and cola (betcha couldn't figure that out on your own, lol). Oddly amazing beverages.
Pewter pot...Historical accuracy for the win! Definitely, a cool thing to have. However, for your own safety, I would suggest against cooking and eating from such. Moreover, if you are making anything acidic in it. ;)
Modern pewter for cooking and eating is lead free. There are reproduction pewter pots available that can be used for cooking, along with plates and mugs that can be used for eating safely. You just have to make sure you are buying "lead free"
@@debvoz Even Modern pewter being mostly tin is not a good Idea - From Google: Because inorganic tin compounds usually enter and leave your body rapidly after you breathe or eat them, they do not usually cause harmful effects. However, humans who swallowed large amounts of inorganic tin in research studies suffered stomachaches, anemia, and liver and kidney problem
A couple of handy books to start you off: A Sip Through Time by Cindy Renfrew Ale, Beer and Brewsters in England: Women's Work in a Changing World 1300-1600, by Judith Bennett THe Culture of Food in England 1200-1500, by CM Woolgar Period receipt books, in addition to the Thomas Dawson in the video: The English Huswife, Containing the Inward and Outward Virtues Which Ought to Be in a Complete Woman - Gervase Markham The Jewel House of Art and Nature - Hugh Plat (incidentally, his father was the head of the London Guild of Brewers) Elinor Fettiplace's Receipt Book
I was recently in a church in Suffolk where some of the medieval wall paintings survive. In the depiction of hell was a portrait of a brewster who had been found guilty of selling watery beer. Quite right too. Will try the butter beer
Anyone else have a Macbeth moment when he said double double beer. “Double double, toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble” ? No? Just me then . . . .
I think that's what it meant, "double double" meant to reduce in half, twice, thus making whatever was in the cauldron SUPER concentrated. But it's just my own personal theory 😅
For what its worth, my father who was born in 1908 and traveled England estensively told me beer was generally kept in barrels below ground all over the country to keep it cool but only in rare places was it served by pumps. At that time is was more common for a barmaid to go downstairs to the cellar to fill a jug holding several pints which she would serve upstairs. Probably a good topic for a history lesson!
I suspect the butter beer in Harry Potter is based on this. Absolutely fascinating! Thanks Max. ☺️It looks exactly how I’ve always imagined it to look when reading Harry Potter.
I made this recipe this evening and just had my first sip. Pretty good. I used an English Brown Ale that I brewed - malty, not too hoppy. Next mug I'm going to add a shot of dark rum. EDIT: Quite good with rum!
@@pandaman5869 An absolutely okay (but not stellar) british ale is Newcastle Brown Ale, it's perfectly acceptable and it's got a nice mellow taste that I think would go well in this recipe. I bring it up because you can find it in most places in the world without having to go to a specialty store.
@@benjamingeiger It's mostly tin (80-90%) with a little bit of bismuth, antimony and copper thrown in there. Silver was also often used. The cheaper quality ones would replace the copper and antimony (the metals that give the alloy most of it's hardness) with lead. Modern plates don't use any lead.
Try some apple pie. Not the commercial stuff you get at Total Wine, but the real stuff made with homemade moonshine. Guarantee that's the best Christmas libation.
I've made buttered beer before, I'm trying this recipe out as I believe my last one omitted eggs. Excited to try this though! I would recommend a fresh nutmeg garnish since that spice was basically the Frank's Red Hot of the day!
Beer made the water drinkable and there were the light variations. Yes, taught that cooking burns the alc off. Last century mothers were told to give unsettled babes some warm water with a little gin or brandy. Even the home brewed ginger beer would have had some. Big frothy yeast plant that was made for days before. And the crown seals would sometimes blow off the bottles.
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EDIT: Clearly, I read my own script wrong. For non-alcoholic, you boil at 100°C/212°F. Sorry for trying to get you to boil something at a temperature which you'll never reach.
Well that just sounds like a challenge to me!
🤣
Not with that attitude
@@felipellrocha *altitude
Just got to put the liquid under pressure then you can get it past 100 degrees
Finally a recipe which solves my main problem with beer: too few calories.
And my problem with butter. Too many heart attacks
😏😆
Indeed! This is wonderful! I always felt like butter didn't have enough alcohol in it and beer didn't have enough fat and calories! Ah, the wonders of human invention!
No lie, I made some, had a mug and a half, then passed on dinner. Good, but filling.
😂 hahaha!
_One pennyworth of nutmegs, beaten_
Jon Townsend : *heavy breathing*
Ha! The Nutmeg Tavern is all aflutter.
saw that one, have a upvote
Lmfao
Hahaha!!
I literally L’dOL 🤣
Elizabethan recipe:
Take a pot and put various things in it. When cooked, serve.
I gotta say this is not wrong. Lol
@@wrongturnVfor most modern recipes are pretty different. They start with about a novels worth of tangentially related, barely relevant life story of the writer's grandmother's dog, alongside a mountain of banner ads.
@@wrongturnVfor i was just making a failed attempt at a joke. XP
“Then add sugar”
@@ultimateninjaboi Don't worry, it didn't fail :)
With "nog" being an old Anglo-Saxon word for ale, I would venture to guess that this recipe possibly formed the basis for what was later to become eggnog, switching ale for rum.
Soon as he mentioned eggs that was my first thought.
Was about to comment the same thing!
Yeah, as soon as he mentioned the spices I thought eggnog.
I remember reading somewhere that eggnog originated in England. They didn’t use eggs but exactly what Max says - beer and milk - and it was called something else (can’t remember now). It wasn’t until the deserters remained in the US and the United States became a thing that eggnog first appeared. I remember reading the brits didn’t have a lot of eggs to spare at the time so they used [edit] ale, not milk 🤦🏻♂️ - milk was a very important part 😂. Apparently Americans *did* have a plethora of eggs and subbed one for the other. Whilst writing, this whole thing doesn’t make a lot of sense but that’s not important. What’s important is I love eggnog and I’ll be trying buttered beer just as soon as we get our first snow.
@@AnthonyLeighDunstan Genuine question: would you happen to remember the source for that? Because I'd like to check it out, as I have difficulty subscribing to the idea that the English didn't have a lot of eggs. Given how much of our cuisine requires eggs, it's not likely that we were running a shortage at that point. It's only really after WWII, when a lot of our trade was reduced and our infrastructure was damaged, that we experienced shortages in essentials like that, and had to carry on rationing until 1954.
But back in the Tudor period, given the relative populations, and also given that this was most likely a drink that would've been available to richer people who had access to almost everything society had to offer, I doubt that eggs would not have been available to make this recipe.
400 year old buttered beer recipe:
- add butter
- add beer
- wait 400 years
4head
at that point you will only get dry residu if anything...
😆😆😆
@@jujularue7611 This is what you would call, in plain English, a jest, or a joke.
That actually made me chuckle.
I would advise going for a beer with low hop content, the Tudors didn't use hops in brewing, hops were starting to be used in mainland Europe as a preservative in beer but the English resisted this as they hated the bitter flavour the hops imparted to the beer preferring spices. Go with a Mild or Stout if you can get it as they tend to have a low hop contents and avoid lager and IPA which have high hop contents.
Killians irish red or other malt beer....i make small beer with it using aguave sugar syrup and spices. works cold, steeped in the fridge for a couple of days to allow the spices to bloom, so no need to heat (though you will need to strain out the spice sediment).
Was going to say something along these lines. The American Pale Ale (Sierra Nevada) used here is probably not particularly close to the intended ale.
This sounds good but I’ve always disliked beer; all the ones I’ve tried have the same aftertaste. Do you think it’s the hops flavor that I don’t like? Are there any beers that don’t include hops? What makes beer, “beer”? I appreciate anyone’s thoughts. I was thinking this would be worth getting a pint to try making; cutting the other ingredients into thirds.
@@IMJwhoRU there's a huge variety of aftertastes amongst beers. if it's a bitter taste you don't like, more often than not it's a beer with a lot of hops, such as an IPA (India Pale Ale). if you're drinking Bud/Coors/Miller and it's the metallic taste you don't like, that's just because it's kinda crap beer. highly recommend you try a hefeweizen, they have low to no hops, fairly sweet, none of that metallic flavor. everyone I know that tries them likes them.
Thank you for that information. I'm sorry to say I know nothing about beer. Can you recommend a good English Ale available in the U.S.?
Watching this 2 years in the future, and can definitely see how the channel has gotten more refined. Love the channel Max, keep em coming.
Thank ya!
Did he get that pewter pot?
@@FPSNecromancerBob lol, don't know, probably.
@@renaissanceredneck73 Just for decoration I hope, because pewter contains lead and will get transferred into the food, i.e. poisoning you. I think Max learned about that at some point and was sad about it, but glad that the comment section warned him or something like that if I remember correctly.
One of my favorite parts of beer in English history is how it was instrumental to the first formal epidemiological investigation - the Soho water pump incident. There was a well in Broad Street that was contaminated with cholera (and kept getting people sick, as they did not realise water could be getting them sick, germ theory was not yet a thing.
There were two water filtering servicing the area, one of which was more expensive (and had lower rates of infection), and one of which was cheaper and less effectively filtered, which was responsible for most of the infections. This less expensive water service owned the broad street pump.
There was one significant anomaly-none of the workers in the nearby Broad Street brewery contracted cholera. As they were given a daily allowance of beer, they did not consume water from the nearby well. This is part of what got John Snow thinking that the water might be the issue.
He solved the epidemic pretty simply: he removed the handle from the pump of the broad street water pump. People stopped getting infected, germ theory was validated, and the field of epidemiology was created.
That is so cool
History of Beer documentary claimed, that it helped to decrease death rate a lot trough medieval ages.
Amazing!
IPostSwords how did the dude from Game of Thrones get to Britain? Better yet did he bring Ghost with him? Was this after he was made King In The North as he was scouring the countryside looking for people to join his Army?
It wasn't quite as simple as that. In fact, the council reinstated the pump only a couple of weeks later because the authorities didn't want to buy into the idea that illness could be transmitted this way as it was seen as 'unpalatable.' The cholera contamination in the water supply had died off by then though and so the outbreak didn’t resurface, but this actually had the effect of further convincing authorities that Snow’s theory had been wrong, impeding legislative and medical practice reform for months. History once again showing how politicians always love to fuck everything up for everyone else.
“If you try to make it yourself, tell me how it went”
Instructions unclear. Got dunked in river by angry crowd.
I truste ye are ableth to swyme well or elst thee coulde not have youtubed thine results of the most perilous ale-makinge--or perhapse thyne is a wytch and can summon demons and or spirits to saveth thee from thine watery peril!
I tired it with a pint of Fullers London Pride.
It’s not terrible, but I could see why it didn’t catch on.
There’s some weird orangey curdling going on on the top. It’s quite sweet, and is slightly custardy .
Probably good enough if your were living in the 16th century when there isn’t much choice.
I wouldn’t recommend it.
Just have the ale out of the bottle, waste of a good pint.
@@royalbloodedledgend sounds like you scrambled the eggs? I dunno.
Making it with Yuengling Black and Tan. Totally not traditional BUT it's my favorite beer so.... yea.
@@laritajohnson2300 A yes, one of my favorites as well, a bit of a weakness actually.
I live with my best friend, and I've been raising my little sister a few years now. They both go absolutely APESHiT for every piece of food you and Townsend have inspired me to cook! I went from a mediocre-average level cook, to decently proficient with all the practice too! THANK YOU MAX!!!
Incredibly wholesome. Thank you, made my night.
I feel the same way about Gordon Ramsay 😁
Welcome to The Club of Extremely Proficient Cooks! Its so exciting to hear when someone starts to see food more than merely an enjoyable necessity. The excitement of knowing you control the flavors and consistencies. When the food you create, illicits oohs and aahs from those tasting it. You begin to understand the Art and the Science of cooking. You find that you pass along your emotions of love. caring, etc. in your meals, and those who partake not only find the taste amazing, but experience a feeling of warmth, the afterglow of the meal is different..more intense. Drugged even. My dear, continue to unravel the mysteries of the hearth. Epicureal Blessings to all!
as someone raised by his sister, the effort is what matters. when she gets old enough to understand, there will be no way to adequately express the depth of gratitude and respect. I'm not a religious person but screw it, I'll throw in a prayer for you two.
@Devilik yup, and cooking stuff like this got me way more into cooking in general! My sibling has since moved out, but now I'm cooking for all my homies pretty much all the time, both modern and "ancient" recipes. It was a nice trip down memory lane remembering this old ass post and seeing how far I've come was a trip. Thanks for reviving this post, Its the only notification I got for it, too.
Mine went quite well for the first batch. I really have nothing to say about this one, the tudors really knew their cooking and you've done quite well with this one.
What beer did you use?
if you go to any supermarket that carries "Sugar in the Raw" brand, that is Demerara sugar
also: don't cook in a pewter pot, since it melts over a stove
What would you even do with a pewter pot then?🤔🤔
as long as it's modern pewter, as a serving vessel? period correct pewter has lead, though, so it should only be used as a display piece.
@@decimalexercise7154 isn’t pewter mostly just used as decorative pieces now?
Agreed, would not recommend pewter, low melting point, contains lead.
It will only melt if there is no liquids in the pot. Pewter has a higher melting point than the boiling point of water.
I made this a few years ago, and would describe the taste as a Tudor pumpkin spice latte plus hint of beer. I can see why they liked it, definitely a comfort drink.
Oh that actually sounds inviting. I tried one starbucks latte tea once, and I after a couple of skeptical swigs I'd finally isolated the taste: like somebody had made a tea from licorice candy. So I hope to make it to my grave without ever finding out what a starbucks /whateverAddedTaste/ latte tastes like.
A 400 year old beer recipe on the other hand? Hit me.
the fun thing about this is, like he says, it's quite a variable recipe, simply for improving decent, but not great, ale. add less egg, less butter, a quarter of the sugar, even, and add more cloves and spices, if you want. find what *you* enjoy, whether you want it cold or hot, etc.
What is a pumpkin spice latte?
@@captainkenzie6873 Brewed coffee, steamed milk, and cloves+nutmeg+cinnamon+ginger.
@@LycanFerret That sounds very American.
I have never before seen a comment section with as much etiquette as this, everyone is so knowledgeable on beers and eager to recommend and supply observations and opinions. Congratulations everybody reading this on your exceptional use of the internet!
Fantastic isn't it. Im so happy here 😍
Hear hear, it's as decent as the baking show.
i think coz everyone during coronavirus was making beer at home lol
I find good comment sections are really the result of a good host. Like attracts like an all that
When it comes to alcohol everyone are friends until you are not.
Can you imagine how wonderful butterbeer was when they desperately needed extra calories?
If you were a dirt poor englishman plying your trade in town all day you didnt get much time to eat well. Those drinks must have felt so fucking filling and refreshing. Stuff like that you take for granted in the present day
@@nathanielleack4842 I was gonna say! Yes!
A peasant ate around 4000-5000 calories a day btw :)
@@Freakyjohnsson1 oh so when a peasant eats 5000 cals a day they're considered "starved" but when i do it im considered "fat" and im told that im "banned from shake shack" smh, double standards
@@Cactus_fucker What you need to do is get those 5k calories from bread and beer like a peasant, then its socially acceptable.
I don't know why this channel was suggested to me, but I've been binging it so way to go algorithm. I like this guy he seems fun to be around.
Why is Elijah Wood's bigger brother teaching me how to make heart failure.
I really enjoy your stuff so far. I've just seen your channel
Great first name 😁
At first I was like "why hellloooooo" then he made an Australian comment and I just laughed so I tried to actually pay attention and I really enjoyed the video 😂
That’s it! That’s who he looks like. I couldn’t put my finger on it.
Perfect comment.
😂 😂 😂 😂
This sounds like something that should be available in a carton at Christmas.
basically eggnog :-)
@@sads-owo I wonder if us lazy people could add some ale to eggnog, put it in the microwave and call it a day 🤷♀️
Mary M
And the butter and heat to melt it. No shortcuts for laziness here. Have a good day.
you cam get something similar on christmas markets in Germany, never tasted it but it should be quite similar
Honestly he was like "I don't know why people did this" and I just went "bruh we have eggnog today and people love that shit"
Just a note (and someone else might’ve already mentioned this):
Pewter contains the chemical element Lead (Pb) so it should never be used for cooking.
You can find Lead-free Pewter, but it’s not necessarily historically accurate.
In this case being historically accurate would result in Lead poisoning.
Love the channel, please keep making videos!
Also, a stick of butter = 1/2 cup.
afaik, pewter only releases the lead with acidity though?
@@tactiti0n Beer is quite acidic
@@tactiti0n Lead's so nasty, I wouldn't mess with it. Especially if children are involved.
Yes good. Historically Accurate Lead Poisoning.
I can confirm that in England if a pub sells dodgy beer we still put the landlord in the stocks and throw rotten tomatoes at them
🤣🤣🤣
Huzzah!!
.... After pouring his ail (sic!) over him and preferably with the tomatoes still in the can. And leave his sorry carcass in the stock until either all the local rats/gulls/crows have finished feasting him or the patrons of nearby hostelries complain that the smell is taking the year of their beer!
If there's two words I could steal from ya'll, they would be mate, and dodgy. all in on dodgy.
@@Kenfree What you don't do "dodgy"? How else could you explain your Presidents or beer for that matter?
Instructions unclear : Poured ale down my leather britches and sat on butter by the fyre.
Oof.parchment
Ouche
So how did it turn out?
_Wheezeth_
Cackle.scroll
There is a way to lessen the chances that the egg will cook while the butter beer heats. When it is time to add the egg mixture to the heated beer, take a little of the hot beer and add it gradually to the egg mixture. Then add this mixture to the hot beer gradually. By doing this, you temper the egg mixture by slowly bringing it closer in temperature to the hot beer. ~ Anastacia in Cleveland
I added rum, milk and cynnamon to the recipe and topped it with whipped cream.
It's crazy how filling and tasty this drink is, it's wonderful, warming and creamy and it's perfect for autumn and winter time
Now I understand something I heard as a small child many many years ago. When someone was getting a bit too demanding or was seen as trying to live beyond their "station in life" they were asked "What do you want, egg in your beer?"
When he mentioned about being dunked into the river. The inability to swim wasnt the main reason actually. The average clothes back in that day were made of wool mostly, wool absorbs twice as much moisture and water, making their clothes extra heavy, and also the temperature of that water... yeah it would literally take the breath out of you lol easily inducing a panic state, easily leading to drowning, making drowning one of the leading causes of death back then... thank you for coming to my ted talk lmao
You saw that history video on washer women, didn't you ...
Ah, yes, "drowning".
@@ValeriePallaoro i loved that video, very informative, but I learned this in high school history actually
In ancient Babylon, if beer was made of a poor quality the brewer would be drowned in his own beer as a punishment.
@@gunslingingbird74 that's beautifully poetic 🤣🔥
Your content is good enough that I see a Food Network show in your future. Better than the stuff I see on TV, reminiscent of Alton Brown’s level of knowledge and wit. Really good.
He's a white male. He's got lesser chance in Hollywood unless if he subscribes to the sjw lunacy
@@rickrollrizal2364 Ah, go have some buttered beer and chill out. This is the nice, no bullshit comment section.
@@mahna_mahna just facts
@@rickrollrizal2364 Just BS...
@@joergmaass www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8513727/Actors-writers-producers-warn-reverse-racism-film-industry.html
"A revolution is under way. White actors are being fired. Edicts from studio bosses make it clear that only minorities - racial and sexual - can be given jobs."
I made this for a Christmas party in 2013. Absolutely delicious, but it was summer of 2014 before my liver felt quite right again.
Lol, too much fat and alcohol in one drink?
"While I sit here and drink three pints of buttered beer"
ah, the sacrifices.
"it's like creamy beer, with spices" - literally a summary of this video
The ale taster was also looking for watered down beer. Thomas Cromwell’s innkeeper father was frequently fined for watering down the beer in his tavern.
tescoid depended on the source of water really. If a village was near a very clean river/stream, or had a very fresh, clean well, they would drink water. if there were no easy to access sources of clean, fresh water, then you might see more minimally alcoholic drinks. people were well aware of what alcohol did to you back then, contrary to some perceptions of the era.
Beer at that time was very different from beer today. Brewing was one of the safest ways to deal with water, plus beers/ales had other nutritional benefits to them and were higher in calories which was important as most people at this point were doing hard manual jobs. Most beer consumed during the day at that time only had around 1% alcohol in it, hence why it was possible to drink it all day and give it to children.
I came here to say the same aha
Also at the time of the Tudors, hopped beer was still relatively new in widespread use. Often their beer wasn’t filtered and might have been made with additional herbs. So it was different from what we drink now.
There weren't alcohol consumption laws ANYWAY, likely because children were basically regarded as small adults. But regardless of the amount of alcohol, kids certainly and frequently drank beer and wine. (Even into the 19th and early 20th centuries, this was a thing; kids lying passed out in the streets was one of the most potent justifications for prohibition in the US.)
@@xunqianbaidu6917 At this period of time water was often dangerous to drink. If you simply drank it you risked getting seriously ill or even dying.
@@xunqianbaidu6917 You don't really understand how germs work, and how prevalent germs were in water before the modern era, do you?
I just made this! It's a really interesting taste, I can totally see why they would binge drink this. It makes sense, you want to gussy up the bitter flavor of beer, put some spices and stuff in it. Very creamy but the warmth is a bit off putting, maybe I should try again during the winter.
I’ll definitely make it again around the holidays. It’s a perfect warming drink. So glad you made it!
Just keep drinking it, eventually it will taste like the best thing ever!
@@TastingHistory I was thinking the same thing. I am saving this so that I can try it at Christmas. I'm so glad I discovered your videos. Love them. Maybe I should binge drink butterbeer while I binge watch your videos. Hmmm....
On a really cold day, it sounds like it would be amazing.
“I don’t know how to describe it”
*describes it exactly*
A lot of the beer they would have drunk in the middle ages would have been small beers, which had a very low alcohol content. It was especially favored for drinking with meals, for children, and for servants (since it'd quench their thirst without getting them too drunk to perform their tasks). Great video! I'll have to try this recipe next time I have a Harry Potter marathon. :)
Do you know the approximate alcohol content of a small beer versus a double double or a big/large beer? (LOL don’t know what the opposite of ‘small’ would be in this case.)
I think it was around 1.5-3%, but I'm not too sure. The channel Townsends has a great video on small beers and how to make your own, if you want to learn more about it.
I'm under the impression that the term ale is usually used to refer to these weaker drinks while beer usually refers to the stronger stuff
i think i read somewhere that small beer was even served in schools
@@appa609 Not the correct impression. In general, there are two types of beer fermentation. Ale, which is top fermenting yeast. Then there's lager, which is bottom fermenting yeast. Lagers tend to do well in colder temperatures, while ales ferment better at room temperature or just below. Within those two yeasts are all of the colorful styles of ale and lager: porters, Belgian Abbey, IPA, Flemish Reds, Dunkels, etc. In general, Lagers are better known for being lighter, lower alcohol beers such as Budweiser, Coors, etc. But there are exceptions to that, especially in Germany. They have some very strong, dark style Dunkel lagers which can reach 9-10% ABV.
As for the "small beers" aka "table beers": They were very important during the middle ages because there weren't a lot of ways to purify water back then. The brewing process allowed for the purification and storage of the local water sources in the form of very low alcohol content lagers that essentially hydrated them. Yes, they could have just boiled the water without the whole brewing process... but you know. Middle Ages. Science wasn't much of age at that time.
Just made your Buttered Beere recipe. It was really good! Reminded me of a chai latte with a hint of alcohol.
Ive just made this and i gotta say i love it. It was a bit too sweet with half a lb of demerara sugar but i figure to tweak it a bit next time. I ised newcastle brown ale and it does the trick. I will try other british beers next time.
Thanks for the awesome recipe!
"it's like a creamy beer... with spices... but really really good" hmmmmmmm for some reason I believe you... totally not because that's literally what it is
I do wish I had better descriptive powers 🤣
also quite eggy
@@TastingHistory he tells it like it is xD
@@TastingHistory How close is it to eggnog? Im getting eggnog made with beer vibes.
@@nathanvalle6997 Quite different actually. And really different from fresh eggnog which tastes pretty different from store bought.
As a culinary student, I must say I need this in my life and career. The history of almost every food and how they were made from the ancient days. New subscriber here!
Kyle Rittenhouse
@@jacksonfitzsimmons4253 why?
Then find an authentic European recipe site, America is too young to know any of these recipes.
Made it. Delicious. Reminiscent of a thinner-bodied, foamy-topped, ale-flavored eggnog. Definitely recommend cutting sugar in half or quarter unless you have the sweet tooth of a 10 year old. Thanks Max!
Step 1: Make buttered beer
Step 2: Set aside for 400 years
Step 3: Serve
Instructions unclear: I died on the second step
I died on the first. I'd rather not talk about it.
In the USA, you can substitute “Sugar In The Raw” (name brand) for the Demerara instead of Brown Sugar....
I feel like as an english person we do just heat everything and add butter, spices and an egg
I mean, it really improves the flavor of almost anything
there isn't a thing like that with tea is there?
Very nutritious!
Z well there is *now.*
What about your tea
Awww ❤ Baby Max ❤ I'm so happy I can watch every episode on the play all list! Sending love and blessings as well as gratitude for all you do. I recommend your show to everyone!
This sounds so good. I'm going to weigh a 1000 pounds by the end of next month. Butter Beer for all!
Tell me about it. Each episode, my chins grow in number.
Butter doesn’t make you fat, sugar and carbs make you fat.
@@lohphat You mean like... the sugar and carbs in _beer?_
Dogman_35 Yes. That too but it’s a matter of degree between brews. That’s why I don’t drink it much anymore. Wine mostly.
It’s pandemic time we are all fat and curly now, it’s ok!
Finished High School 4 years ago and History was my favourite subject. Ancient and Modern, I was sucked in. I've lost that passion over these years a bit but finding this channel is rekindling it. Love your work!
Fuck, kid, if you just finished high school 4 years ago, you would think my high school graduation WAS ancient history! 😆
I’m so damn impressed with this channel. Seriously, well done sir, you really deserve more followers!
Thank you! Hopefully they find me 😁
Omg I am watching this 2 years later and you have such a baby face 👼 😍 💕
Tried it, and highly recommended it. VERY good and quite simple. I have a feeling this'll be a Christmas favorite from now on.
Every year on Martlemass (aka St. Martin’s day), I make a meal based on medieval recipes, and this drink is perfect! Can’t wait to try it out! Subscribed.
When you do, I’d love to see pictures!
Can I join you?! I'll book a ticket to the UK, that sounds awesome!
Call it Mirtle's Martlemass Mash
@@mikemackay86 Maybe Mirtlemass?
AAAAAaaaahhhh come on! Seriously? There was a profession in the middle ages that consisted of going from tavern to tavern to taste the quality of ale?!?!?! That's becoming a NPC on my D&D games right now! 😜
It's still a job today, but there's lots more paperwork. Definitely a bureaucrat's job.
I can see it now roving bands of dwarven taste testers run amok , and a band of brave adventurers hired to deal with them.
That job it exists till today XD. No beer gets out of the factory before been professionally tasted and evaluated.
Oh HECK yeah
Yeah but think about how often you might end up drinking Skunky beer
Fresh water was rare back in those days. Nothing harmful can live in beer. It was a way to make water safe, hence why so many British beers are low in alcohol. Safe enough to drink daily but not be hammered.
👌Same for wine for wine producing continental European countries.
A lot of foods were unpredictable in regard to safety in days prior to refrigeration and pasteurization. Also, creating a fermented beverage of some kind was a way of preserving grain. Ale, beer, whisky, it all works.
I've had food poisoning from beer.
@@akademikz23 Most likely from something served with it or contaminated drinkware. The whole process of making beer kills off pathogens and the alcohol makes it an inhospitable environment for germs.
@@akademikz23 Me too, I was sick all night, and the next day after 11 pints of homebrew.
I'm sitting in beer right now.
All the more disturbing that you don't drink it.
@@trashpanda8437 Gamer Girl Bath Beer
Beer is sitting in me...
Now, now... we don't know that Ray hasn't 'processed' it first...
made some of this for a christmas party last year, came out great!
Oh good!
Like the beard better.
Definitely clean-shaven!
FYI, ethanol boils off / rapid-evaporates at a lower temp than water. So if you're at a simmering temp, you are indeed boiling out the ethanol. It doesn't take long to boil it out so I reccomend throwing in some rum at the very end of cooking it..... I must make this now. 😆
i never drink alcohol alone. i always wait for the kids to come home from school.
So did my dad
As an Englishman, I can appreciate this lifestyle choice.
@@Joe0161 havin a Stella with your daughter Bella 😎
Who needs a professional beer pourer/taster when you have kids?
European gang be like:
"Maybe a little bit, cause it is England". As an Englishman I tip my hat hahahaha! I love your videos, I make my own beer and wine and have taken inspiration from your videos to create many fine drinks! Keep doing what you're doing, I'm sure many people do, but I as one love everything you do! I love how you integrate the History with everything that you show, it really is exhilarating.
As your local Harry Potter fan I can confirm that the butter Beer of the books indeed has some alcohol content, not enough for a 13 year old to get drunk on but a house elf will get drunk on it, as seen in the forth book. That being said, I really want to make this and have a Harry Potter marathon or something.
@Stannis Baratheon I mean, you could always remove the alcoholic content and then recarbonate the beer artificially.
@Stannis Baratheon Fair enough.
@Stannis Baratheon Monarchy based law be like:
Saw the title of this video and immediately thought of Harry Potter! Forget the crap they sell at Harry Potter World - This is awesome!
Add RiffTrax to the movies for a better beer experience.
Made this today, top stuff. Very high calories, one mug and I was full for the evening. Thanks, and cheers! 🍻
That was probably a good thing 400 years ago.
I remember years ago looking up Harry Potter recipes like butterbeer. I don't remember it being anything like this! Now I gotta try it.Thank you.
Yeah, I’ve never thought that they way say, universal studios, interpreted butterbeer to taste was quite right. Based on the description in the books, I always pictured something more like this - a warm drink with actual butter and actual beer in it.
They just made shit up they could sell for cheap.
Had a teacher who tried making it with root beer and butter. That's it. Root beer and butter.
It was terrible.
I made this with Hard Cider instead of ale, and added a stick of cinnamon when I put in the rest of the spices. It was pretty good, tasted like a baked apple, but it was rather sweet. I forgot that cider is sweeter than ale haha. I'll have to use less brown sugar next time I make it with cider.
A lot of recipes like this make more sense when you're in a building with no central heat and it's 35°F. The calories are how you stay warm!
It used to be an unspoken agreement that landlords would occasionally serve a hot toddy to their tenants during the wintery months
For any normal folk out there, that's about 2°C
@@sb_dunk funny you have to round up whereas 35° is a precise temp. Stay normal, bro
@@LacoSinfonia middle school comprehension skills 💀
@@LitCactus dude that’s mean don’t say that to me :(((((((((((((
This video was such a good find. My granddaughters love Harry Potter. Making Butter Beer looks like a great rainy day activity. I think they'll love it.
This is the first Tasting History dish I decided to try myself! It's sooo good!!! Rich and decadent like I never imagined a drink could be. After watching the video, I realized I had every ingredient needed but the ale so I went to the convenience mart down the street and picked up a 6 pack of Revolver Blood and Honey. I made my own variations to the recipe; I added cinnamon and vanilla extract and I also cooked off the alcohol for the kid-friendly version he talked about so I could have a more authentic Harry Potter experience =D
Just made this today with New Castle. Turned out really good. Pretty much exactly how Max described it. I used the sugar in his link.
I just tried it with an oatmeal porter because I could not find Newcastle. Definitely need to find Newcastle tomorrow. It's OK, but it has a lingering bitterness at the end due to the porter.
Fun fact: mulling beer, just like wine and cider, was also done because... well, it tastes *_really_* good.
I think the spices help ward off and relieve colds as well.
@@SobrietyandSolace True, and more so very much believed to cure them, at the time, or at least *_really_* help with the symptoms. See "body humours" and "four elements" - spices were considered hot food items, and their heat would thereby cut against the cold that made you sick. Remove the cold, cure the sickness.
(Which is why doctors actually advised against eating various fruit, as their freshness and moisture content was deemed to be indicative of being cold food items. Fun fact: water, in the elemental theory of the time, was not most characterized as being wet, ironically, but cold. As in, every element had two characteristics, one of them being primary; and because of the arrangement of the elements in opposition, since fire was *_clearly_* more hot than dry, that could only mean that water would have to be more cold than wet... Stupid as that sounds.)
Funny fact I never read that butterbeer was sweet when I was younger so when the recipe came out for the movie I was bummed. I recently doing some research for old drinks and I stumbled onto this recipe on an old history website and I feel in love with it! It's actually pretty good. No one can convince me this wasn't what she was writing about in her book.
Nicholas Flamel was an actual alchemist who worked on the philosophers stone too. Every account of butterbeer in the books matches this recipe far more than that sickly sweet shit they sell at the amusement park. Isn't it even described as being served warm in PoA?
@@prototypep4 yes! I really love the history snippets sprinkled in the books!
Well one thing for certain, given the Hogward's regard for student safety, serving this to eleven year old's would be the least of their transgressions.
@@prototypep4 What they sell in the park is basically this but with cream soda instead of beer, and no eggs or spices. So basically this, but without most of the ingredients that make this recipe what it is.
@@Julia-lk8jn I mean, characters do get drunk off of butterbeer in the books. The way they portray it makes it sound like it’s a half alcohol beer or something, since it’s apparently what house elf and lightweight alcoholics drink, but larger adults rarely seem to get intoxicated off of it.
I tried this with some dry mead (I don't like beer so I don't keep any in the house), it came out really well. Definitely an extra amount of calories, but not bad for an occasional treat
I just bought the cookbook. Can’t wait for it to arrive, excited!
Tasting History x Townsends collab when?
Yesterday, there was a collab with Mike Miller and I misread it and got a bit excited for Max, but no... it wasn't. Hopefully someday.
OMG THIS!!!!!
Yes please! Maybe Mrs. Crocombe would be up for a crossover episode too...
I've conducted some experimentation in my many makings (and drinkings) of tudor era buttered beer. While there's a local microbrewery that makes a fantastic nut brown, the best two widely available beers to use are Fat Tire Amber Ale, and Newcastle Brown Ale. Hops weren't really used in brewing back then, only as a preservative- modern IPAs come from just how much hops had to be put in ales to get them to survive the sea voyage from England to India, hence India Pale Ale.
Brown ales, and amber ales work fantastically. Bitter ales have an interesting result, but I find make a wonderful buttered beer. Anything hoppy should be avoided, and light beers such as pilsners don't quite have enough body to them for a good buttered beer.
This is what I was expecting from all the butterbeer recipes I've found. I'm totally trying this when the weather gets cooler!
Made this fantastically delicious version of "buttered beere" this evening!! The chill was in the air on one of our first autumn nights!! This recipe hit the spot!! We absolutely loved it!! Definitely a winner, Max!! Thank you for posting it and thank you for your wonderful Channel!!
Hot take: this recipe tastes way better when you use a 50/50 mixture of salted and unsalted butter.
Hmmm, I bet you’re right on that. A bit of salt would liven things up.
@@TastingHistory It would have been salted butter back in Tudor times. Unsalted butter spoiled too quickly
@@chameleonedm their salted butter wouldn't be anything much like the salted butter we know today, though. In the quantities necessary to preserve the butter, salted butter would have 2-5x the amount of butter we put in salted butter today.
I used salted on mine and it was delicious. But that was only because I didn't have unsalted at home.
@@chameleonedm the recipe specifies sweet butter (ie unsalted)
I could watch you/your channel all day (and almost have). Two of my favorite things, history and food. Thank you.
For future reference, I recall seeing recently (no, I can't remember where) that the penny was also traditionally used as a measure of weight as well as currency. So, one penny's worth of cloves beaten (ground) would be the weight of a penny (whatever THAT was back then). Further research just now (thanks to the interwebs) reveals that a pennyweight is equal to about 1.5 grams.
I'll probably try this recipe using that as my measure and see how it works out. So far, that stuff you've showcased that I've tried has been pretty good so I've got a good idea that this will be a winner, too.
For those curious as to where I found my information, here is the link:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennyweight
I didn't follow the link yet, but my guess would be that the "penny" was a weight before it was a currency. It explains "half-pennies" , and it fits with the logic that currencies started out as precious metals, so something is worth a pound of silver, or (anachronistically) a gram of silver or penny of silver.
And then the logical next step is to cut silver into exactly these amounts, and put a stamp on them to keep anybody with criminal energy from creating thinner or smaller "pennies". (well, or at least to make it a bit harder)
@@Julia-lk8jn You might be right, but that was long before the middle ages; "penny" entered the English lexicon via old english/germanic "penning", which has meant "coin" as far back as linguists can trace. But before that, there's debate about its origins, including an ancestral cognate with Latin "pondus" for measurement of weight.
I would take it only that the ON/OE melded seamlessly with the Norman influence in the medieval period. As far as money itself, shillings (and the word) themselves have existed since the beginning of recorded OE settlements.
I made a butter beer a few years ago with a different recipe. It was very delicious and extremely filling. Definitely a Christmas or Winter festival drink.
My fellows and I set upon the quest this night, and we were victorious! The flavour was rich, smooth and buttery!
Any chance you’d be publishing your collection of these updated recipes someday?
Seems like a good Holiday beer, something to serve at thanksgiving/Christmas
The idea behind buttered beer is similar to chardewardon, in that it is a medium filled with sugar, egg yolk and spices. Both are flavourful.
I wonder if adding yolk was an affordable way for people of the age to improve the nutritional benefit of what they were eating -- perhaps to "add heartiness," or such. The smallfolk would not have had easy access to meats as in the modern era, but surely eggs were more easily included in a peasant's diet.
Hmmm...
Interesting thought. I’m not sure. I’d never heard of chardewardon!
@@TastingHistory Depending upon the recipe, chardewardon is similar to applemousse. Have a look at Medieval Cookery to compare recipes.
Egg yolk is an emulsifier, needed to keep the butter in solution.
It's a good thought. Chickens are extremely easy to keep in almost any climate (they are even popular in Alaska) so long as you have ready access to grain to supplement any lack in their natural foraging capabilities. Just a handful of chickens will produce quite a lot of eggs every day, giving a reliable addition to the family diet.
It's a common misconception that meat wasn't common among the peasants. I'd wager that the peasants ate a lot of meat, mostly pork, and fish in their daily diets. Pigs are incredibly easy to raise and feed so it makes sense that a family would keep a few every year.
I would definitely try this as a Christmas or New Years drink. Yum.
I thought I'd throw in a Euro reference in on the alcohol thing... I was stationed in Germany in the early 1980's, and there was a kids drink that we all loved in the summertime... It was called a "Radler" Which was a lot like an Arnold Palmer, but instead of Tea, it was half Beer, and half Lemonade. Now since the German Pilsners were on average around 10 or 12% alcohol, that would put these half liter mugs at being 5 to 6% alcohol by volume... as a kids drink.
Duncan Mac Raven I mean maybe the times have changed, but I wouldn't call it a kids drink. You can drink it at the age of 16 (that's what the law says), but it is still an alcoholic beverage.
back in the day you drank wine as a staple drink. Kids and adults. On the other hand they did have a bunch of social taboos about getting blistering drunk during the day, so they often watered their wine. It extended the wine supply AND made you able to drink more, then again water is a good taste enhancer in drinks from whiskeys wines beers, so it wasn't too much of a problem.
"Radler" is called shandy in the UK, and is very popular - beer, usually lager, mixed with either lemonade or ginger beer. I dislike it, but many people love it. But it is not a children's drink, unless made with non-alcoholic beer.
In Schwabia (Stuttgart region), there are Cola Weizens which are made with the local Hefeweizen and cola (betcha couldn't figure that out on your own, lol). Oddly amazing beverages.
@@mann8557 Easy enough to make at home!
Pewter pot...Historical accuracy for the win! Definitely, a cool thing to have. However, for your own safety, I would suggest against cooking and eating from such. Moreover, if you are making anything acidic in it. ;)
Modern pewter for cooking and eating is lead free. There are reproduction pewter pots available that can be used for cooking, along with plates and mugs that can be used for eating safely. You just have to make sure you are buying "lead free"
@@debvoz Even Modern pewter being mostly tin is not a good Idea - From Google: Because inorganic tin compounds usually enter and leave your body rapidly after you breathe or eat them, they do not usually cause harmful effects. However, humans who swallowed large amounts of inorganic tin in research studies suffered stomachaches, anemia, and liver and kidney problem
Just made this today and I have to say that it was so delicious! Definitely give this a try. I added cinnamon sticks to my brew.
Man, watching his old videos shows how much he has improved. Still though, love the buttered beer recipe.
Congrats, dude... your channel is one of a kind
Thank you!
I thought she made this up... I thought Rowling made this up! This is amazing!
A couple of handy books to start you off:
A Sip Through Time by Cindy Renfrew
Ale, Beer and Brewsters in England: Women's Work in a Changing World 1300-1600, by Judith Bennett
THe Culture of Food in England 1200-1500, by CM Woolgar
Period receipt books, in addition to the Thomas Dawson in the video:
The English Huswife, Containing the Inward and Outward Virtues Which Ought to Be in a Complete Woman - Gervase Markham
The Jewel House of Art and Nature - Hugh Plat (incidentally, his father was the head of the London Guild of Brewers)
Elinor Fettiplace's Receipt Book
Thank you! I don’t have either Renfrew or Bennett’s book. Off to Amazon!
@@TastingHistory Forgot to add Beer in the Middle Ages and Renaissance by Richard W Unger
I was recently in a church in Suffolk where some of the medieval wall paintings survive. In the depiction of hell was a portrait of a brewster who had been found guilty of selling watery beer. Quite right too. Will try the butter beer
Aww Mr. Toad chilling in the background. Quality attraction
One of my favorite rides at Disneyland. 😁
Anyone else have a Macbeth moment when he said double double beer. “Double double, toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble” ? No? Just me then . . . .
I'm Canadian, double double has a very ingrained meaning up here and it ain't that
double double is two cream two sugar, its a coffee order you can get in canada
@@yumehophype5005 Oh. Here I thought it was a sex joke
"Something wicked this way comes!"
I think that's what it meant, "double double" meant to reduce in half, twice, thus making whatever was in the cauldron SUPER concentrated. But it's just my own personal theory 😅
For what its worth, my father who was born in 1908 and traveled England estensively told me beer was generally kept in barrels below ground all over the country to keep it cool but only in rare places was it served by pumps. At that time is was more common for a barmaid to go downstairs to the cellar to fill a jug holding several pints which she would serve upstairs. Probably a good topic for a history lesson!
I suspect the butter beer in Harry Potter is based on this. Absolutely fascinating! Thanks Max. ☺️It looks exactly how I’ve always imagined it to look when reading Harry Potter.
I made this recipe this evening and just had my first sip. Pretty good. I used an English Brown Ale that I brewed - malty, not too hoppy. Next mug I'm going to add a shot of dark rum. EDIT: Quite good with rum!
“A good British beer”
*pours in Sierra Nevada*
@The Magic Hispanic But it's not necessarily good. Most ales and stouts taste like crap. The good ones are quite expensive.
What's a good british ale
@@pandaman5869 An absolutely okay (but not stellar) british ale is Newcastle Brown Ale, it's perfectly acceptable and it's got a nice mellow taste that I think would go well in this recipe. I bring it up because you can find it in most places in the world without having to go to a specialty store.
@@witmoreluke thanks
sierra nevada makes mostly IPA's , and they are gross
If you're going to buy a vintage pewter pot, I'd be careful. Back in the day, some unscrupulous manufacturers added lead to cut costs.
I thought pewter was tin and lead...
@@benjamingeiger It's mostly tin (80-90%) with a little bit of bismuth, antimony and copper thrown in there. Silver was also often used. The cheaper quality ones would replace the copper and antimony (the metals that give the alloy most of it's hardness) with lead. Modern plates don't use any lead.
IDKW I keep watching this every few months. It's very comforting!
This sounds like the perfect Christmas libation!
Companion to eggnog. For those poor benighted soul who don't like eggnog.
Try some apple pie. Not the commercial stuff you get at Total Wine, but the real stuff made with homemade moonshine. Guarantee that's the best Christmas libation.
Out of all the recipes you’ve done so far this is the one I’m most likely to actually make. I wonder if I’ll actually like it.
I've made buttered beer before, I'm trying this recipe out as I believe my last one omitted eggs. Excited to try this though!
I would recommend a fresh nutmeg garnish since that spice was basically the Frank's Red Hot of the day!
Beer made the water drinkable and there were the light variations. Yes, taught that cooking burns the alc off. Last century mothers were told to give unsettled babes some warm water with a little gin or brandy. Even the home brewed ginger beer would have had some. Big frothy yeast plant that was made for days before. And the crown seals would sometimes blow off the bottles.